1. Influences used to Frame Our Government Mrs.Ball

2. Magna Carta Magna Carta; “Great Charter” Magna Carta was written by a group of 13th-century barons to protect their rights and property against a tyrannical king. It is concerned with many practical matters and specific grievances relevant to the feudal system under which they lived. The interests of the common man were hardly apparent in the minds of the men who brokered the agreement. But there are two principles expressed in Magna Carta that resonate to this day: "No freeman shall be taken, imprisoned, disseised, outlawed, banished, or in any way destroyed, nor will We proceed against or prosecute him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers and by the law of the land."imprisoned "To no one will We sell, to no one will We deny or delay, right or justice.”

3. Magna Carta On June 15, 1215, in a field at Runnymede, King John affixed his seal to Magna Carta. Confronted by 40 rebellious barons, he consented to their demands in order to avert civil war. Just 10 weeks later, Pope Innocent III nullified the agreement, and England plunged into internal war. Magna Carta, 1297: Is widely viewed as one of the most important legal documents in the history of democracy

4. Magna Carta During the American Revolution, Magna Carta served to inspire and justify action in liberty’s defense. The colonists believed they were entitled to the same rights as Englishmen, rights guaranteed in Magna Carta. They embedded those rights into the laws of their states and later into the Constitution and Bill of Rights. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution ("no person shall... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.") is a direct descendent of Magna Carta's guarantee of proceedings according to the "law of the land.

5. The House of Burgess The House of Burgesses, established in Jamestown in 1619, was the first representative legislature in what is now the United States. It was made up of two elected representatives (from each of the 11 settled parts of Virginia). Along with the governor and his council, they made laws that were in the best interest of the settlers. As the time passed, the practice of representation became the foundation of our system of government.

6. Mayflower Compact The Pilgrim's landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. They traveled to the new world on the “Mayflower,” and were due to land in Virginia, however due to stormy weather and rough seas, the small ship was carried of course. They landed and decided to settle in an area that did not have a charter. A “charter” was a government document that enabled colonist to settle in a specific place. The Pilgrim's wrote the Mayflower Compact. The Pilgrim's who signed the compact agreed to follow the all the laws that were passed by the majority of the settlers.

7. Mayflower Compact The Mayflower Compact was signed on November 21, 1620. The citizens of the new colony gave up some of their individual powers to the government they had created. They also agreed to submit to and obey the government they choose. The Mayflower Compact includes some basic ideals upon which the Untied States was founded. For example: The Declaration of Independence states that the government should receive their powers from “the consent of the governed.” The framers of the constitution also used “We the people” to show that the foundation of the new government was its citizens.

8. English Bill of Rights “The English Bill of Rights is an English precursor of the Constitution, along with the Magna Carta and the Petition of Right. The English Bill of Rights limited the power of the English sovereign, and was written as an act of Parliament. As part of what is called the “Glorious Revolution,” the King and Queen William and Mary of Orange accepted the English Bill of Rights as a condition of their rule. The Bill of Rights asserted that Englishmen had certain inalienable civil and political rights, although religious liberty was limited for non- Protestants: Catholics were banned from the throne, and Kings and Queens had to swear oaths to maintain Protestantism as the official religion of England. Unless Parliament consented, monarchs could not establish their own courts or act as judges themselves; prevent Protestants from bearing arms, create a standing army; impose fines or punishments without trial; or impose cruel and unusual punishments or excessive bail. Free speech in Parliament was also protected. These protections are roots of those in the Constitution and the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments” (Bill of Rights Institute).

9. Common Sense “In 1776 an obscure immigrant published a small pamphlet that ignited independence in America and shifted the political landscape of the patriot movement from reform within the British imperial system to independence from it. One hundred twenty thousand copies sold in the first three months in a nation of three million people, making Common Sense the best-selling printed work by a single author in American history up to that time. Never before had a personally written work appealed to all classes of colonists. Never before had a pamphlet been written in an inspiring style so accessible to the "common" folk of America” (National Endowment of Humanities). It included things such as national unity, natural rights, the illegitimacy of the monarchy and of hereditary aristocracy, and the necessity for independence and the revolutionary struggle.

10. References Bill of Rights Institute, Americapedia. (n.d.). English bill of rights (1689). Retrieved on 9-9-2012,from website: http://billofrightsinstitute.org/resources/educator- resources/americapedia/americapedia-documents/english-bill-of- rights http://billofrightsinstitute.org/resources/educator- resources/americapedia/americapedia-documents/english-bill-of- rights National Endowment of Humanities, EDSITEment. (n.d.).Common sense: The rhetoric of popular democracy. Retrieved from website: http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson- plan/common-sense-rhetoric-popular-democracyhttp://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson- plan/common-sense-rhetoric-popular-democracy